Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Computer games: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is the most highly-anticipated first person shooter in the last couple of years. Our girl gamer takes her best sniper shot.

The most anticipated and pre-ordered game of all time has finally hit the shelves, leaving hundreds of fans queuing outside stores which opened for the midnight launch. Call of Duty, or COD as it is affectionately nicknamed, stacked up enough pre-orders to keep it on top of the pre-order charts since last year. Play.com announced they were receiving 150 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 pre-orders per minute during their peak. Such a heavily anticipated game has a lot to live up to. With this weight on the shoulders of the developers, have they created a FPS (First Person Shooter) to sniper shot the competition?

This long running series of games started out on the PC before conquering the consoles, having acquired several titles within its 6 year lifespan. Call of Duty altered the way we look at the first person shooter genre with each release creating another milestone for first person shooters to live up to. From the great battles of World War II to the modern skirmishes of the 21st century, Call of Duty specialised in allowing the gamer to use anything from a sniper rifle to a knife in order to survive. The last two instalments (Modern Warfare back in 2007 and last year’s World at War) were fan favourites, so the COD developers knew it would be no small feat to please everyone and match their expectation.

The game features many new elements whilst retaining the old glory. The single player campaign is as epic and movie-like as its predecessors, and cannot be faulted for its quality or quantity. It is as challenging as ever in veteran mode, while still being accessible with the easier difficulty settings. The story picks up from where it left off – and will keep you hooked with fast paced action right till the end. Although many fanboys may be disheartened by the removal of zombie mode, they can seek refuge in the vast array of missions available for both single and multiplayer. The new spec-op mode has a selection of different missions from stealth to full on assault, which is one of the key new features in Modern Warfare 2.

There has already been controversy over the new title and its depiction of modern warfare, with the inclusion of innocent citizen killings and the martyr function which has been present in previous instalments. The more graphic elements of the game can be skipped if you are easily offended – however, this game is called Modern ‘Warfare’ and has been designed to include disturbing real life issues in the game.

Most importantly, there have been some dramatic changes in terms of gameplay and pace in the multiplayer online mode which has reigned supreme over the last few games. One of the key new points is the introduction of new kill streak awards, as players are now able to choose from a large selection of different rewards after maintaining a certain kill streak. These include everything from UAV and manning an AC130 plane to setting down a sentry gun or nuking the whole map. Some of these rewards have room for technical improvement. I don’t know how many times I have set down a care package, only for it to land on an unreachable plane wing or rooftop.

The major key difference in the game is not the new guns, awards or maps but the large change in pace of the game play. It has become apparent that it is easier to kill and be killed within the game, which leads to either furious ‘run and gun’ type gameplay or many players attempting to camp out a spot for the entire match. This change may alienate some fans – but, given a chance, most should adapt to the style of play.

The release of the eagerly anticipated ‘Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’ has witnessed many changes which may anger some devoted fans but also bring many more new players into online matches.

We fan boys and gamer girls were expecting impossible perfection. Apart from a few quirks, this is the nearest to that zen gamer goal a first person shooter has yet dared come.